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Tommy looked towards Tubbo who was sat on the bench, his friend was facing the sky, eyes tracing the stars. They had finally just arrived home after the battle with Dream, the adrenaline a souvenir from the day. He turned his head to look at the valley below, listening to the crickets’ gentle song.
“We should go to bed,” Tubbo said a few minutes later, his voice slow and tired.
Tommy nodded and stood up holding a hand out for Tubbo, he was always the one to help his friends up after they had been sitting anywhere. Tubbo smiled as he took his hand, stumbling a bit after the hard yank Tommy had used to get him up. As they walked back Tubbo noticed how Tommy had forgotten to let go of his hand and gently squeezed it, knowing how self-conscious Tommy got about things like this.
They walked into the dirt hut slowly, as if not wanting to leave the moment on the bench. They were both tired, but they knew that any peace they had achieved today was temporary, but there, on the bench, it felt like time would stretch to eternity.
They peeled off their armour and went to their separate bedrooms. Tommy had constructed them after Tubbo had nagged him for about a week. Before they walked into their separate rooms they looked at each other, the realization that they had won hitting both of them for the umpteenth time that night.
They crashed into each other for one final hug.
It would be okay, so long as they had each other, so long as they were together, everything would turn out fine in the end.
That night Tommy lied in his bed, his mind unable to sleep when he heard the shuffling over in the next room.
He got out of bed and slowly walked towards the adjacent room. He knocked softly on the oak door.
“Tubbo,” he said softly.
He heard the shuffling stop abruptly and a tiny “yeah” come from in the room.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” Tubbo told him though Tommy heard the way his voice broke.
“I’m coming in,” Tommy said counting out a few beats to give Tubbo time to say anything before opening the door.
He walked in and saw Tubbo sitting up in his bed, tear tracks glistening on his cheeks from the dull light of the moon. He had definitely been having a nightmare, the way the sheets were tangled around his legs gave it away. Tommy felt a sliver of jealousy that his friend had actually managed to fall asleep, before abruptly remembering that it was because he had fallen asleep that he had a nightmare.
Tommy felt his heart melt. He slid himself next to Tubbo who immediately wrapped his arms around him.
They sat there, their arms wrapped tightly around each other before either of them spoke. It was Tubbo who broke the silence.
“I-I really thought I was gonna die today,” he said his voice catching.
“I know, I thought so too, but you’re here, and that’s all that matters right. That tomorrow we can go sit on that bench without worrying about Dream,” Tommy told him in whispered passion.
“I almost wasn’t,” Tubbo said his voice small and defeated.
“Tubbo, let me make you a promise, and while I can’t promise I’ll be able to keep it you’d better believe I’m gonna try,” Tommy said putting a bit of space between him and Tubbo.
When Tubbo was looking him in the eye he told him,
“I promise, so long as I walk the prime-path, and even beyond, that you won’t die. On my watch you’re never gonna need a grave, I would rather lose my last life, I-I would even rather go back to Logstedshire with Dream than let you lose your last life,” Tommy told him solemnly.
Tubbo buried himself in Tommy’s shirt, he knew Tommy, he saw the fire that burned inside of him, he saw the way that Tommy always won in the end through sheer force of will. And because of that, he knew that he wasn’t being lied to. That so long as the great Tommyinnit had a say in it, Tubbo would live a long life. And so long as Tommy was in his life, it would be a happy one.
“Do you wanna stargaze,” Tommy asked him a few minutes later.
Tubbo nodded, he reluctantly let go of Tommy, but his friend seemed to have picked up on his hesitation because he loosely linked their fingers together once they had both stood up. Tommy didn’t let go of his hand as he went about grabbing things from his chests.
Eventually, the pair made it outside where Tommy promptly set up a campfire and two sleeping mats. Each boy claimed the mat of their colour, Tubbo green and Tommy red. Tommy released his grip as he crushed cocoa beans and set a pot of milk and a pot of water to boil. Once he was done, he stirred the ingredients into two separate mugs. He handed one to Tubbo who eagerly took a sip.
“Tubbo,” Tommy started.
“Yeah?” said Tubbo looking at his friend.
“I don’t want to separate tomorrow,” Tommy admitted staring at his lap.
“Me neither,” Tubbo admitted softly.
Tommy looked up and shot Tubbo a grateful smile which Tubbo returned with a warm smile of his own.
“So what do we do,” Tommy asked after a few minutes of silence.
“I think I stay here with you, if you'll have me of course,” he said ducking his head shyly.
“Of course I’ll have you,” Tommy said, sounding affronted. As if the very idea that he wouldn't house his best friend was ridiculous to him, which it was.
It didn’t very long for their mats to end up near each other. Eventually, they fell asleep, the mugs lay long since forgotten, surrounded by the warmth of each other and the embers of the dying fire.
No nightmares plagued them for the rest of the night, and soon the sun rose, and with it came hope. And really, what more did they need.
The next week went by slowly as the two broken boys learned how to be kids again. Without any nations to run or revolutions to organize, they fooled around. Playing harmless pranks on everyone who was left in the area. And although Tommy would touch a flint & steel or TNT, nor would Tubbo touch a firework, they made it work.
They left foul-mouthed signs all over the Badlands, left a chest full of red dye labelled and renamed as Redstone by Awesamdude, messed with Eret’s castle and spent a day following him around calling him the Great Georgenotfound and then spent a day following George and placed a bed anytime anyone walked past telling him to take a nap because they probably had something important they wanted to tell him.
As much as the residents of the SMP acted annoyed, internally they were relived. They had seen the way the shadows of war haunted them, in the way they clung to each other whenever a creeper exploded nearby, in the way that they had escape plans. One was a revolutionary who had been fed stories about honour and of fighting for freedom, the other was a president who had been told that if they did the right thing, that everything would be alright. And both of them had been child soldiers, they had been told about the supposed grandeurs of war and the spoils of victory.
It was going well until about a week later when they were renovating Tommy’s house and Tubbo made an offhand comment about Sam opening visiting hours for Dream.
Tommy backed up in the corner. The scene in front of him shifted. He no longer stood in the back of his hut with Tubbo, instead he was in front of Tnret with Dream asking for his armour with faux sympathy. He reached for a chestplate he wasn't wearing, wondering if Dream would want the stack of iron that sat in his inventory when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He jumped but when he looked up he didn't see the porcelain mask staring him down ike he expected. Instead he was met with wide brown eyes filled with worry. Tubbo. He was saying something to Tommy but he heard none of it. He elected instead to crash into Tubbo, holding him close. Tubbo quickly placed his arms around Tommy making soothing noises.
When Tommy calmed down enough Tubbo asked him about it.
“Yeah, sorry about that, I-I thought I was back in Logstedshire for a sec there,” Tommy said scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Oh Tommy,” Tubbo said wrapping the taller boy back in his arms.
They stayed like that for a while, not talking, just enjoying each other's comfort.
A week later, Tommy got bored, which was always a dangerous sign for the residents of the server. He came to Tubbo all giggly with a big mischievous smile on his face.
It took a lot of convincing to get Tubbo on board, but in the end, Tubbo agreed.
And that was why the two currently stood in a small booth with a colourful woollen roof at the end of the previously blocked off Prime Path that led to L’Crater, as it was now called. The sign on the booth proclaimed to give tours about L’Manberg and where monuments used to be.
No one showed up, they each received several messages about how people were too busy to partake in any tours and a few others who still felt too sad to go on a tour.
The pair was disappointed but not surprised. In the end, they walked in the crater on their own, putting on their best tour guide voices.
“And this is where the Great Technoblade met his doom,” Tubbo said as they approached the approximate location of the podium.
“Didn't he manage to survive and then escape,” Tommy accused, laughing.
“Well, yeah, but it's the thought that counts,” Tubbo sputtered.
Laughing the two continued walking around. Tommy quoting bits of the Declaration of Independance in his best Wilbur impression and Tubbo joining in for the ‘suck it Green BOYYYYYYY’ at the end.
They ended up back at the bench later that day, with Tommy holding a sewing kit in his hands, a while ago he had found an old coat of his from years ago. As a passion project he had decided to collect patches and sew them on, as a way to tell his story. Along the way though, Tubbo’s story had started to be added.
Tubbo sat beside him, Blocks playing in the jukebox next to them. It was peaceful, and this was how Tommy wanted it to be always.